ANMI English Tips & Tools

2008-03-15

Hay Fever

If you visit the アンミ英会話教室 these days, you might hear the following conversation:

Student: Did you catch a cold?
Chip: No, I have hay fever.
Student: Really? I am sorry to hear that. How long have you been suffering from hay fever?
Chip: I've been suffering from hay fever ever since I was a baby.
Student: Huh? Do you have hay fever in the States, too?
Chip: Yes, of course. Hay fever is a common ailment all over the world--not just Japan.
Student: Oh, I didn't know that. I thought it was only caused by Japanese cedar trees.
Chip: Oh, no. Hay fever is caused by almost any pollen.

Well, this week has been a very tough time for me because of my hay fever. How about you? Are you suffering from hay fever?

Today's post is related to hay fever terminology and useful conversational phrases.

Here is a few list of important terms:

1. Hay fever (everyday English): 花粉症 (hay: 干し草、まぐさ; fever: 熱)
2. Pollinosis (medical English): 花粉症
3. Symptoms: 症状、症候、兆候
4. Sneezing: くしゃみ
5. Runny nose: 鼻水の垂れている鼻
6. Watery eyes: 目が潤む、涙が止まらない
7. Postnasal drip: 後鼻漏
8. Sore throat: 咽喉炎
9. Nasal congestion: 鼻詰まり、鼻閉
10. Ear pressure: 中耳圧
11. Sleep disturbances: 睡眠障害
12. Nasal discharge: 水様鼻汁分泌
13. Medicine: 薬、医薬
14. Antihistamine: 抗ヒスタミン剤
15. Eye drops: 目薬
16. Face mask/facial mask: フェイス・マスク
17. Itchy eyes: 目が痒い［ムズムズする］
18. Pollen: 花粉
19. Handkerchief/hankie: ハンカチ、ハンカチーフ
20. Kleenex: ティッシュ（ペーパー）(商標であるが、米国では tissue と言わずに Kleenex と言うことが多い.)

References:

1. American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
2. Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine
3. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
4. 英辞郎　第三版

Next, let's review a few phrases related to allergies:

1. I have hay fever.
2. How is your hay fever?
3. I am suffering from hay fever.
4. My hay fever is bothering me (a lot) today.
5. I am dealing with hay fever today.
6. My hay fever is really bad today.
7. My hay fever is killing me today.
8. Do you have hay fever?
9. What do you take for your hay fever?
10. Do you take anything for your hay fever?
11. Do facial masks really work?
12. Pollen is flying all over the place today.

Hay fever is caused by pollen from trees, grass, or weeds. Although hay fever is often caused by pollen from ceder trees in Japan, people like me suffer from pollen from almost any kind of tree, grass, or weed. In fact, I suffered from hay fever from March to October every year when I was a boy. Since I grew up on a farm in the Rocky Mountains, pollen from ragweed, alfalfa, corn, ceder trees, barely, wheat, Chinese elm trees, pine trees, and many more bothered me spring, summer, and fall. Since moving to Japan, I only suffer from hay fever during spring. Life is a lot easier for me in Japan!

Here are some interesting statistics regarding Japan and the States.

1. The approximate number of people suffering from hay fever:
Japan: 15 million
U.S.A: 34 million

2. The Thursday, February 14, 2008 edition of The Nikkei Business Daily reported that Japanese businesspeople would be happy to almost one month's salary for a cure to their hay fever, according to a survey of 412 men and women aged 20 to 39 by GlaxoSmithKline KK.

3. Hay fever was virtually unknown before 1800 and has become common only in the past 100 years. "All the epidemiological studies published in the past couple of years agree there's a trend to more allergy and lots of things are probably contributing, including the excessive use of antibiotics, poor diets lacking in antioxidants, pollution, and even the fact that improved hygiene means our immune systems are not being challenged by bacteria as often as they were," said Jean Emberlin of NPARU.

If you have five minutes to waste, please enjoy this video titled Hay Fever Blues:

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2008-02-28

Vehicles + On or In?

How would you say, "電車に乗る" in English? Do you remember what you were taught in junior high school? Of course, the answer is, "ride on a train."

The phrase, "ride on a [something]" is perfectly fine for a wide range of vehicles. See the examples below:

1. ride on a ship
2. ride on a bicycle
3. ride on a bus
4. ride/sail on a ferry
5. ride on a/the subway
6. ride on a tricycle
7. ride on an airplane
8. ride on a horse
9. ride on a mule
10. ride/sail on a yacht*
11. ride on a/the train

* ヨット and yacht are not the same thing. Brits say "sailing boat" and Yanks say "sail boat." Check this link for pictures of some of the world's most beautiful yachts!

So what about cars, taxis, pickup trucks, and small sailing vessels? For these kinds of vehicles, we say as follows:

1. ride in a car
2. ride in a taxi
3. ride in a van
4. ride in a pickup truck
5. ride in a semi-trailer truck/tractor-trailer (トレーラー車)
6. ride in a rowboat
7. ride in a canoe
8. ride/sail in a sailboat

"What is the difference?" you ask.

If you can walk onto the vehicle and move around, such as on a bus, train, or ship, then use the preposition "on" with "ride." If you cannot walk into the vehicle, like a car, the cab of a tractor-trailer, sedan, etc., then use the preposition "in" with "ride."

Just be careful that you don't say, "I rode on the car," which evokes an image of you riding on the hood, trunk lid, or on the roof of the car!

Can you think of other types of vehicles that we can add to the lists above? Can you think of any unusual vehicles where we might be able to say "ride on" or "ride in"? Click on the comments link below and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.1 Japan License.

2008-02-23

X-Box 360, PlayStation, Nintendo Wii

Since Toshiba pulled out of the high definition (HD) digital versatile disc (DVD) market, it looks like Sony's Blu-ray Disc will finally become the industry standard. Too bad for the folks who bought a HD DVD player. Since Sony lost the VHS vs. Betamax format war that started in the mid-1970s, winning the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray Disc format war must be very satisfying to the Sony Corporation.

In a related matter, the Microsoft Xbox 360 console has been shipped to the market with HD DVD compatibility, where the PSP3 console has been shipped with Blu-ray Disc compatibility.

This brings me to today's topic. How do you say ビデオゲーム、テレビゲーム、ファミコン、etc., in English?

Originally, the first video game consoles were released in the U.S. market in the late 1970s according to Wikipedia. Although The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition acknowledges the term, "video game," which is defined as, "An electronic or computerized game played by manipulating images on a video display or television screen."

Besides the term video game, we also use the term TV game in English as well. However, note that video game can refer to game consoles that can be played on on a TV or a computer video display, where TV games refers only to game consoles that can be played on a TV.

The phrase, Family Computer software (ファミコン), however, never really caught on in the English language. So, when enjoying your Xbox 360, PSP3, or Wii, be sure to use the term video game when talking about your favorite games in English.

I am not into video games, so if you have some ideas or comments related to today's topic, feel free to click on the link below and leave a comment!

Disclaimer

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.1 Japan License.